Excavator with inclined bucket wheels attached to a working unit which is horizontally maintained



y 1970 P. M. MIKHAILOV ETAL 3,510,970 EXCAVATOR WITH INCLINED BUCKET WHEELS ATTACHED To A WORKING UNIT WHICH IS HORIZONTALLY MAINTAINED 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 2. 1967 y 1970 P. M. M IKHAILOV ETAL 3,510,970 EXCAVATOR WITH INCLINED BUCKET WHEELS ATTACHED To A WORKING UNIT WHICH IS HORIZONTALLY MAINTAINED 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 2. 196'? United States Patent Office 3,510,970 Patented May 12, 1970 EXCAVATOR WITH INCLINED BUCKET WHEELS ATTACHED TO A WORKING UNIT WHICH IS HORIZONTALLY MAINTAINED Pavel Mikhailovich Mikhailov, Kalyaeva 16, kv. 16; Alexandr Fedorovich Smirnov, Naberezhnaya Chernoi rechki 31, kv. 46; Abram Arkadievich Babitsky, Plutalova 20, kv. 6; Leonid Ivanovich Primanchuk, Ul. Frunze 23, kv. 36; Antonin Afanasievich Molodtsov, Naberezhnaya reki Fontanki 118, kv. 19; Zalman Eremeevich Garbuzov, Michurinskaya ul. 13, kv. 20; Maria Nikolaevna Timofeeva, Ul. Furmanova 15, kv. 3; Anatoly Alexeevich Astashkin, Ul. Voinova 2/4, kv. 53; Gavriil Akhmetovich Mutushev, Kirovsky prospekt 26/28, kv. 87; and Anatoly Fedorovich Arkhipov, V.O. Veselnaya 11]. 2/93, kv. 38, all of Leningrad, U.S.S.R.

Filed Mar. 2, 1967, Ser. No. 620,081

Int. Cl. E021? 5/08 US. Cl. 3794 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A Wheel excavator is provided which has a hoisting frame supported from a vehicle for pivotable movement in a vertical plane and from the frame there is mounted a working unit for movement horizontally and vertically. The hoisting frame is pivotably moved relative to the vehicle by a hydraulic cylinder connected therebetween and the working unit is moved relative to the hoisting frame by means of hydraulic cylinders. The hydraulic cylinder which controls the vertical movement of the working unit is regulated by a slide valve which in turn is operated by a connecting rod secured to a telescoping member connected between the vehicle and the working unit whereby the working unit can be maintained at a particular position.

This invention relates to wheel excavators with a working unit consisting of two inclined bucket wheels suspended on a frame, whose position is adjusted by means of a follower. Such excavators are preferably designed for digging irrigation canals.

There are known excavators of said type wherein to the tractor frame is hinged a frame resting in the working position on a carrier which is moved along the bottom of the canal. The working unit, embodied in the form of two inclined gravity discharged bucket wheels, is mounted on the frame.

The position of the working unit of said excavator is adjusted by means of a device based on the use of a light ray or a wire follower which can only ensure the required depth of the canal.

The main disadvantage of said excavators is that the profile of the canal is misaligned during digging or moving the tractor over rough terrain since the working unit cannot be maintained in the horizontal position.

An object of the invention is to eliminate the above disadvantages.

It is another object of the invention to ensure the formation of the berm of the canal in the process of digging.

This is attained by the provision of a hoisting frame rotatable in the vertical plane by means of a power cylinder and attached to the running gear frame of the excavator, and a working unit attached to said hoisting frame, said working unit being free to move both vertically and horizontally with the aid of power cylinders hinged to the hoisting frame and to that of the working unit, While a follower consisting of a telescopic bar is hinged to the frame of the Working unit at one end and to the frame of the running gear at the opposite end, a connecting rod being linked with one end to a portion of the bar, and with its opposite end to a slide valve which controls the vertical hoisting cylinders of the working unit.

Shafts are also attached to the frame of the working unit parallel to the banks of the canal, which shafts mount the berm-developing ploughs free to slide along the shafts.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the excavator according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is the top view of the excavator; and

FIG. 3 is the gearing diagram of the excavator according to the invention.

The excavator comprises a crawler tractor 1 (FIG. 1), a hoisting frame 2, a working unit 3 and a follower unit 4.

Loads on the running gear of the excavator in the travelling position are distributed and the mounting of the requisite equipment is assured by having the engine and the operator cabin of the tractor 1 moved forward in the direction of travel and mounted on a special cantilever frame 5.

The hoisting frame 2 is mounted in journals 7 on a frame 6 of the running gear, that is on the girders of the crawler tracks of the tractor 1, to provide freedom of articulation of the frame 2 in the vertical plane with the aid of hydraulic cylinders 8. Working unit 3 is suspended from the hoisting frame 2 by means of a universal type connection (generally indicated at 25) so as to be free to move vertically or horizontally with the aid of hydraulic cylinders 9 and 10 (FIGS. 1 and 2).

Said latter cylinders are hingedly connected to a frame 11 of the working unit.

Hydraulic cylinders 8 (FIG. 1) hoist the frame 11 together with wheel buckets 12, whereas the hydraulic cylinder 9 turns the frame 11 relative to a hinge 13 While maintaining the horizontal position of the frame at any height during hoisting movement. The cylinders 8 and 9 are hinged to the hoisting frame 2 at a common location as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The follower 4 includes a telescopic bar 15 (FIG. 3), a connecting rod 16 and a hydraulic slide valve 17. At the same time, the telescopic bar 15 is connected through a hinge 18 (FIG. 1) to the tractor frame 6 at one end, and through a hinge 19 to the frame 11 of the working unit at the opposite end. The connecting rod 16 (FIG. 3) is attached to the left-hand portion of the telescopic bar 15 and to the hydraulic slide valve 17 which is connected to the right-hand portion of said bar.

Thus, an imaginary parallelogram ABCD (FIG. 3) is formed together with the hoisting frame, wherein sides CD and BD symbolize rigid connections.

As the frame of the working unit is deflected from the horizontal position, the parallelogram ABCD is disturbed and the connecting rod 16 is free to actuate the slide valve 17 which supplies oil to the upper or lower end of the hydraulic cylinder 9, so that the cylinder 9 turns the frame 11 of the working unit relative to the hoisting frame 2 until it is brought into the horizontal position.

The excavator is provided with berm formers 20 made as ploughs. Said ploughs are mounted on shafts 21 disposed in a vertical plane and parallel to the bucket wheels and thereby to the banks of the canal (as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3), and the ploughs are free to move longitudinally along the shafts.

A catch 22 prevents the ploughs from turning about the shafts upon which they are mounted. Said catch slides over a guide disposed parallel to the shaft when the berm plough is lifted or lowered. The aforesaid system of the plough suspension ensures the development of a berm of a required width at various digging depths of the working unit.

What is claimed is:

1. An excavator comprising a working unit including two inclined bucket wheels, a vehicle frame, a hoisting frame pivotally supported from said vehicle frame for movement in a vertical plane, means supporting said working unit from said hoisting frame for vertical movement, first power cylinder means hingedly connected to said hoisting frame and said vehicle frame to move the hoisting frame in its vertical plane of movement, second power cylinder means hingedly connected to said hoisting frame and said working unit to move said working unit vertically relative to said hoisting frame, and a follower unit for controlling the position of the Working unit in a vertical plane, said follower unit comprising a telescopic member having one end pivotably connected to said vehicle frame and the other end pivotably connected to said working unit, a connecting rod connected to said telescopic member, a slide valve connected to said connecting rod for being operated thereby, and means connecting said slide valve with said second power cylinder means to control the latter in accordance with the position of the telescopic member to adjust the position of the working unit.

2. An excavator as claimed in claim 1 wherein said telescopic member is pivotably connected to the vehicle frame and to the working unit, said connecting rod being secured to said telescoping member.

3. An excavator as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first and second power cylinder means are hingedly connected to the hoisting frame at a common location.

4. An excavator as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means which supports said working unit from said hoisting frame permits horizontal movement of said working unit relative to said hoisting frame.

5. An excavator as claimed in claim 1 wherein said working unit comprises shafts arranged in a vertical plane and generally parallel to the bucket wheels and thereby parallel to the banks of a canal to be dug by the excavator, and berm ploughs mounted on said shafts for free axial movement therealong.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,625,912 4/1927 Rolph 3797 1,846,902 2/1932 Powell 3791 2,621,575 12/1952 Berg 1724 2,834,125 5/1958 Brant 3797 2,849,809 9/1958 Chattin 3798 2,873,541 2/1959 Eliason 3797 2,913,878 11/1959 Rue 1724 XR 2,952,928 9/1960 Hanson 3794 FOREIGN PATENTS 118,001 5/1962 U.S.S.R.

138,187 5/ 1962 U.S.S.R.

183,675 8/1966 U.S.S.R.

ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner C. D. CROWDER, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

